For the past 7 years straight I have been doing nothing but buying diapers. No sooner than one is about to be out of diapers, another one comes along. Right now Jaxon is about to be potty trained and I’m looking at at least 2 more years (more than likely 3) of diapers for Justin. Finances keep getting tighter and tighter here so I’m always looking at ways to save money. I’ve seen a lot of moms recently talk about cloth diapering…I thought about this while I was pregnant but dismissed the idea since it grossed me out thinking about cleaning dirty diapers other than wrapping them up and tossing them. Now…I think I’m ready to try it. Plus I keep seeing cute cloth diaper baby bottoms and they are so cute! Not to mention, I’ve been making his baby food…trying to do things as natural as possible with him (if I had my way we’d still be breastfeeding) and trying to do it more with the entire family…so I’m thinking cloth diapers are a great next step!

So…tell me where I should start? Brands? How many? I’ve seen some are sized and some fit multiple sizes. Wet bags…what are they? Where’s the best place (price lol) to get them? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I have been asked this question MANY times…”How do you do it with 4 kids?” I never know how to answer because honestly….I don’t even know! Some days I feel like I’m going to pull all my hair out and just want to run away and hide under a rock…other days I look at my kids and wonder why they can’t behave like this all the time haha!

It’s an understatement to say that I keep busy. Mondays is Girl Scouts for Jaylin, Tuesdays is Karate for Jeffery, Wednesdays is OT for Jeffery and every other is Boy Scouts, Thursdays is Karate for Jeffery again, and Fridays we just recently started Jaylin in Gymnastics. This don’t include check-ups, or random other things that go on like the past 2 months I’ve had plenty of appointments to get Jaxon ready for Head Start in the fall by getting evaluated for his IEP, as well as Jaxon’s therapy. I am glad that very few things are on the same day so I’m not rushing from one thing to another, but it makes for one very tired mama to never have an evening to rest. Because even when Jeff offers to keep an eye on the kids so I can rest…I can’t rest. I’m either crocheting (which honestly has been pretty relaxing to me) or working on emails so I can keep this blog running. Even if I do try to rest/nap/take a hot bath…95% of the time there are kids screaming in the living room, fighting, or running around like they’re wild…so it’s never peaceful enough for me to fully rest unless all the kids are in bed and even then there are the million times they get out of bed for one reason or another. I’ve been in the shower at 10pm thinking all my kids are asleep and when I turn around I see a figure in the doorway…yep…there’s a kid up (mind you…my shower is on the OTHER side of the house so it’s not like the sound of water running woke them up)

Don’t consider this post whining. I don’t mind doing it all…if it makes my kids happy, then I’m happy. But if you ever wonder how I do it with 4 kids and everything else that I do…just know that I don’t even know how I do it…I just do.

So, if you ever come to visit…expect my house to not be completely clean…there are toys all over the floor…laundry waiting to be folded/put away on the couch and you may even see me curled up in a ball in the corner rocking…trying to keep from pulling my hair out haha!

Over a year ago (September 2010), we signed Jeffery up for Karate. It was something he could work towards the goal of belt promotions and also teaches respect. He enjoyed it from day 1 and continues to look forward to it every week! The past 19 months he has progressed so much, and his behavior has somewhat improved and he has went through an entire level of belts (Little Dragon, they have colors with a white stripe down the middle) Every belt promotion you could see the pride in his face! Just last week we had his last Little Dragon promotion…he is now going into the Family Class which have solid colors and older kids as well as adults. He’s excited for this change and can’t wait until his first class on Tuesday. I thought I would go through and show off some of the pictures I’ve taken over the past year and a half.

 

His final belt promotion was held last week, Jeff had to work but my dad showed up to see his exciting moment. Once he got his brown belt and it was explained to him the next belt would be GOLD, he was sooooooo excited, he talked about it all the time!  The day arrived and he could barely contain himself!

This weekend will be hopefully (I say hopefully because I’m not sure if we’re going to have the money) his 2nd tournament. Last year he had a blast and got a HUGE trophy. The trophy was as big as he was!

Seriously, to take the last 2 pictures we had to wait in line!!!! These instructors are so awesome with the kids and are so loved! Jeffery really looks up to Mr. K and I can always count on Mr. K to have a heart to heart with Jeffery when he’s had a rough couple of days (home and/or school). I’m excited to be able to let Jeffery continue with karate and can’t wait to watch him grow more and more as he learns and understands more. Being 7, he don’t understand all of it…but he does get most of it. So this week, he’ll get a new uniform…without the little cartoon dragon and graduate up to an actual uniform (his current one has velcro and just slips over his head, the actual uniform ties).

So if you are local to me (meaning anywhere around Harrisonburg or Elkton VA) check out Brian Mayes Karate. It’s one of the things I’m so glad that I put Jeffery in!!!

I was not paid/compensated for this post in any way. I actually pay monthly for Jeffery to do karate, I just had to share his progress and my joy in the program.

First off…Do you know how hard it is to get 4 kids to look at the camera at the same time? Much less smile at the same time?????? Then add in a baby who got cranky and didn’t even want to be held by anyone but Mommy and yea…it was chaos. But we did get some good pictures and I have to say I have some absolutely adorable kids!!!!

My kids are my life! I couldn’t imagine my life without them! These are the first pictures of all 4 of my kids besides in the hospital when Justin was born.

Justin is growing like a weed now and he’s such a happy baby! Recently I’ve noticed he is a baby of many faces!! He’s so cute and expressive! Every day it seems like I see a new face! Here are pictures of SOME of the many faces of Justin!!!

Also, he’s trying to sit up!!!! Most days he’s beside me sorta propped up on a pillow so he’s pretty much laying down…well now he can pull himself up to a sitting position. Only problem is, he keeps going forward and can’t stop himself yet so he ends up falling into me or face first on my bed. He sometimes thinks this is a game and laughs as I pick him back up then does it all over again!!!

I’m so happy with his progress! We go next week to check his weight, but I have a feeling we don’t have to worry about anything anymore He loves his baby food and although we had to stop breastfeeding…he’s doing well on sensitive formula and seems to be happier since we made the switch from breast milk to formula.

Just for fun, here is a picture of Justin sneezing…because well…how often do you catch a picture mid sneeze???

We had Justin’s follow up ENT appointment Wednesday and NO SURGERY is needed!!! He’s slowly outgrowing this, he don’t make the noise as often it’s just louder, and I can deal with that. As his ENT said “He’ll never win a game of hide and seek” He don’t think the apnea monitor is needed but left that up to Justin’s pediatrician. He also said we needed to get with his pediatrician to get a plan to help Justin gain more weight. I left there feeling so much better!

Yesterday we had his follow up with his pediatrician from being in the hospital last week (perfect timing since we had just seen the ENT). We discussed the supplementing formula system and the type of formula we’re using, she mentioned I could give him some oatmeal mixed up with formula and start him on “solids” since he’s so close to 4months, then we talked about the apnea monitor and why the hospital pediatrician put it on him. In the end, he’s on a sensitive formula to help with his gas and fussiness, Daddy bought him some oatmeal last night so we’ll be starting that today, and in 2 weeks when we go back for his 4 month check-up we will

talk about removing the apnea monitor as long as he don’t have any apnea episodes (so far he hasn’t had any and he’s had it on for an entire week). At his 4 month checkup we will also talk about referring him to  Infant and Toddler Early Intervention (Jaxon’s therapists have brought it up so I mentioned it to his pediatrician)

I do love his pediatrician, she sent us home with 2 full size cans of the sensitive formula to get us started and moved up his 4 month check-up so we can keep an eye on his weight. I feel we are on the right track and the plan is going to do well…I just finished supplementing the new formula for the 3rd or 4th time since getting it (I do this with the supplemental nursing system, so he gets formula while he’s breastfeeding…best of both worlds!) and he seems so much calmer and he hasn’t been nearly as fussy as he used to get. The doctor mentioned he MAY have reflux (he don’t like to lay flat, and spits up…not much, but he does it just about every feeding) but right now we’re focusing on the weight gain and if he still spits up with the new formula we may look more into the reflux. I thank goodness everyday for the Kolcraft Incline Bassinet, he sleeps so wonderfully in it (no this isn’t a sponsored post/link…I really do love it!)

On Wednesday night…well Thursday morning (it was at 3am) I woke up to Jaylin coming in the room wanting to use our bathroom, so when she cut the light on I glanced over at Justin who I had realized wasn’t making his usual breathing noises…I then noticed he was a little pale and I couldn’t see his chest moving up and down, or even hear a quiet breath. My worst fear ran through my head…my baby might be dead. Just typing that brings tears to my eyes. I finally got up the nerve to touch him, and as soon as my finger touched his hand he jerked and I could hear his “normal” breathing sounds. I wasn’t sure if he had completely quit breathing or if it was just too shallow for me to see without my glasses on…either way I think I lost a few years off my life with worry.

Throughout Thursday we didn’t have any more problems, but the closer it got to bedtime, the more my anxiety rose. What if it happens again? What if I don’t wake up to stimulate him? What if my worst fears come true the next morning when I wake up and find my baby not breathing? Ever since I was told his epiglottis could obstruct his airway, I’ve been on pins and needles. Finally when Jeff got home we agreed I should take him to get checked out, just to make sure there wasn’t something more going on and to put both of our minds at ease. I called 911 to take us. For one, just so he could be monitored on the way over, two, so Jeff could have the van in case we did get transferred again to the bigger hospital and three, because I didn’t want to wait 5 hours in the waiting room again!

For once we had a WONDERFUL ER doctor. She actually did tests, xrays, rsv/flu and blood to see if she could find anything other doctors didn’t. When she didn’t find anything wrong she said we could be transported to UVA or released if I felt comfortable to take home…I did not. So she run a few more tests and was going to set up transport once the results were back. After a lot of tears from me, them poking Justin multiple times for blood and me trying to think rationally…I decided I wanted to ask the doctor more questions. I asked her HONEST opinion on what should be done with Justin (to transport or to go home) she said with his history it WAS justifiable, but she didn’t feel it was necessary. She did understand that I didn’t want to transport him because they were just going to monitor him and send us home again…I did not want the stress of being in PICU again just for monitoring. She offered to call the hospital’s on call pediatrician to see if he would take Justin on and admit him to their pediatric unit to monitor him for the night…at first he said Justin should be released…then after another phone call (I love how persistent she was about trying to get him admitted to this hospital) he agreed to come in and check Justin out for himself (Just so you know, Justin does have his own pediatrician, but they only do office visits and not hospital stuff).

The doctor on call happened to be my old pediatrician and the older 2 kids’ pediatrician (we moved to a doctor closer, just to end up at a doctor back in the same city a few years later lol) He recognized me and called Justin, Jeffery. He sat down and we actually talked, and I felt like I was listened to. He understood where I was coming from about not being comfortable taking him home after the episode the night before…I can watch him during the day but I do need sleep at night. He said if I didn’t want to take him home, he would keep him there and monitor him…insert huge sigh of relief.

I almost cried when I walked into Justin’s room for the night, they had made up the bed for me (linens and blankets on there and turned down…looked like it was inviting me in!) and had everything set up and ready for Justin. After putting him on the heart monitor, and being fed…we were out for the night. I could sleep sound knowing if he stopped breathing or if his heart went too low for too long…there would be nurses in there to take care of him.

The next morning a nurse come in and offered to give him a bath (older lady, I think she just wanted to hold him and play with him a bit lol) then the doctor from the night before come in and sat down, spoke to me like a human and asked if I was ready to go home. I was…and I told him Jeff and I were going to look into getting our own heart/oxygen monitor for Justin. He interrupted me and offered to write orders for Justin to have a sleep apnea monitor…it would be covered under his insurance and we could get it that day! You can not imagine the weight lifted off my shoulders at that second. It would be a little bit of a long process, but we would probably be released when the doctor made rounds that evening. They had an educator come in and teach me about infant CPR as well as what to do if a baby is choking…that way I would be prepared if the apnea monitor went off and Justin was unresponsive. Later the medical place arrived to show me the monitor and teach me everything about it, it’s a lot and it was a little scary/intimidating…but I knew it would give us all peace of mind.  At 7:30pm the doctor made rounds and said as long as I felt comfortable with the monitor, we were ok to go home!

So here I sit at 2am…listening to my baby breathe and knowing when I do lay down to sleep, if something were to happen, the apnea monitor would wake me up instantly (it’s set to go off if his heart rate goes to 70/200 for 20 seconds or he stops breathing for 20 seconds) The machine is loud as it is, but Jeff made sure that it’s right by the head of my side of the bed (which is right beside where his bassinet is) And I know what to do if it is an emergency.

I sign off here…feeling as though someone was looking out for Justin that night. I feel blessed. I feel as though things could be completely different right now. I never want to feel that way I did that night ever again…I wouldn’t wish that feeling on my worst enemy. My heart goes out to those who have lost little ones.

I’ve posted before that Justin has a problem with a part of his throat and may need surgery. It’s come to be our “normal” to hear him make noises while he breathes 95% of the time, there is barely a minute that goes by that he’s not by my side or in my arms so I can make sure he’s still breathing (not necessary, but I’m paranoid). For a few days I had noticed Justin’s hands turning a greyish color while he was nursing…one of the signs his ENT told me to look out for. They went back to normal quickly and he was fine. Monday, he was inconsolable, wouldn’t take his paci, wouldn’t nurse, couldn’t get into a good sleep (any slight noise would wake him up and he would be screaming again) so I panicked and  got all the kids dressed and out the door, I made a call to Jeff at work and told him to ask to be dropped off at the hospital to get the big kids and the van. Justin’s oxygen level was at 95% so they weren’t concerned and sent us to the waiting room. Jeff arrived shortly after and got the kids so I could focus on Justin. We waited HOURS (total of 5 hours) in the waiting room. While I sat alone in the children’s play area (I just stayed there when Jeff took the kids since it was quiet and the chair was comfy lol) an older lady had come over and asked what was wrong with him and after talking for a few minutes she asked if she could hold him, I let her and we went over to a bigger seating area so we could sit together. She was with her pastor who’s mother was being seen and I was thankful for someone to talk to and someone who give my arms a break so I could snack…she happily rocked him and when he would fuss she stood up and walked and bounced him (she never went more than a few feet from me) We just talked, and it was nice to have that company. Eventually she left and I was left alone again, thankfully a family friend offered to come sit with us and give us a ride home when we were released…I couldn’t be more thankful for her, she didn’t hesitate to offer to sit with us even though I just asked if she would be willing to come get us when we were released.

After multiple times to the desk to ask when Justin would get a room, one rude nurse and my family friend almost going off on the nurses asking why her “grandson” was being made to wait over 4 hours when he is having trouble breathing! Finally after 5 hours in the waiting room (we arrived at 6pm, got called back at 11pm) The nurse was quick to come in and ask the normal questions and the doctor followed shortly after…he immediately said the best place for Justin was at UVA (a bigger hospital over an hour away), now this was always in the back of my head since his ENT is based out of that hospital and the hospital has the necessary doctors to deal with a baby as small as Justin with his problems. It was still scary to hear. While the doctor was making the necessary phone calls I fed Justin to make sure he would be ok for the trip, while nursing his hands turned colors and we had a nurse come into the room and put an oxygen thing on his foot…his levels were fine but when I went to burp him, they dropped…I changed his position and tried to stimulate him to breathe normal and they went back up. By 11:45pm the transport team was there and were being given Justin’s details and informed them about his desat (oxygen level going down…I’m really learning too many medical terms!) They strapped him into his car-seat and strapped that to the stretcher as well as made sure he had a heart monitor on and the oxygen monitor on his foot still. I said bye to the family friend and thanked her a million times for sitting with me for those hours. The paramedic give me a long speech about if something were to happen to Justin on the trip for me to stay out of his way…no problem, he’s the professional not me! We were out of the hospital by midnight. They put the lights on “Priority 2″ so they could get through lights and go faster than traffic, we got to UVA in 55minutes.

UVA has it’s own pediatric ER which is where we were taken to first, multiple nurses and doctors come in to get his information and to find out what was going on, I was informed his ENT had been called and was on his way in. At this point I had lost track of time, I was in and out of sleep and just plain exhausted. One of the doctors who worked with his ENT come in and said they were going to just move up his surgery to that afternoon/evening instead of waiting until February. I signed consent forms for it and that was the hardest thing, to sign a piece of paper that said one of the complications could be death (that’s on all surgery consent forms, but still!) and he could end up with a tracheotomy (because it was in the throat area) We were being admitted to what I was told was Pediatrics, but when they wheeled us (I was on the stretcher holding Justin) we went into PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and my heart sunk! I stood on the other side of the curtain while they stuck my poor little baby to get an IV put in and hooked him up to a heart monitor. I think they finally got a cot for me to sleep on around 5 or 6am and I was up around 8am. I was hearing conflicting reports on if he could nurse or not but finally was told he could. That day was sort of a blur, I know they stuck him a ton of times trying to get blood and they just couldn’t get enough out of him I was standing in the doorway when the chaplain was making her rounds and she introduced herself and asked me how I was holding up, as I went to answer her I just started crying…my baby was behind me crying from having a needle go into his arms multiple times and I was lacking sleep

and food not to mention one nurse told me if he was on a no feeding order I wouldn’t be able to stay the night with him again (I was not a happy mama to hear that but just waited it out because I was going to refuse to leave). I was then getting conflicting reports on if he would have surgery or not…when the ENT come in around noon and said that morning when he saw him his heart rate was low until he scratched the top of his head. His thought was there may be more to the issue than just the throat thing. Scary thought that there may be something wrong with his heart! Again, after waiting…his oxygen levels stayed up and his heart rate stayed up so we were told he could be released the next day (today) as long as everything stayed good. He didn’t want to do unnecessary surgery. We saw a nutritionist and a speech and language person who luckily come in while I was nursing so she could hear him sucking and swallowing and said he sounded great.  Overnight he did great with no desats and his heart rate stayed good (I was also allowed to stay with him since he was allowed to feed!)

Today he was released. I was so happy! We’re happily home relaxing, but I’m still on edge watching his every movement!